The present invention relates to a non-refillable applicator device for direct application of paste upon and particularly between teeth in connection with cleaning, polishing or similar surface treatment thereof performed either professionally by dentists or dental hygienists, or by the patient himself.
Normal teeth cleaning by means of toothbrushes with tooth paste applied thereto is not completely satisfactory because the proximate faces of the teeth, i.e. the faces bordering the interspaces between the teeth, are difficult to reach. Extensive research has revealed that the frequency of tooth diseases is considerably reduced when personal teeth care is completed with recurrent cleaning by dental personnel--the lateral tooth faces being polished with abrasive pastes and with the use of tooth picks or similar devices introduced into the interspaces between teeth and reciprocated either manually or mechanically, e.g. by such tools as are described in the British Pats. Nos. 1,211,150 and 1,296,543.
Hitherto, it has not been possible to apply paste into the interspaces between teeth in a completely satisfactory manner. With professional teeth cleaning, the abrasive paste is normally stored in tubes or jars with screw caps. At each occasion of treatment a sufficient quantity is obtained from said tubes or jars and placed in a small cup of a discardable type, from there the paste is subsequently transferred to the teeth by various instruments. This is a complicated method which is unhygienic in view of the risk of infection and can also cause the paste to become dry and lose its abrasive properties. The result with such procedure is--as when applying the paste with a tooth brush at home--that most of the paste is applied on those faces of the teeth which are most easily reached and that require the least cleaning, whereas the teeth interspaces are less favoured.
In connection with clinical teeth treatment it is known to use syringes of various kinds and for different purposes, such as for antiseptic rinsing and for the introduction of medicaments or, for example, impression masses in the mouth of the patient.